Blessing for the Torah:
Bar’chu et YHVH ha-m’vorach, Baruch YHVH
ha-m’vorach l’O’lam va-ed!
Baruch ata YHVH Eloheinu melech ha-olam asher
bachar banu m’kol ha-amim,
v’na-tan lanu eht Torah-to.
Baruch atah YHVH, noteyn ha-Torah. Ameyn.”
(Bless YHVH the blessed One; Blessed is YHVH,
the blessed One for all eternity.
Blessed are you, YHVH, our Elohim, King of
the Universe,
you have selected us from among all the peoples,and have given us
your Torah.
Blessed are you, YHVH, giver of the Torah. Ameyn.)
"All the Torah learned in the present world
will be vain compared to the Torah of Mashiach." -
Kohelet Rabba 11:12
New Torah Portion - Ki Tetze – When(because)
you will go out…. Perhaps the title of this new parashah contains a hidden
prophetic message. There will come a time when true believers will “go out” from
mainstream manmade religion and the thinking of this world and embrace all
YHVH’s Torah.
Parashat Ki Teitzei, contains
74 commandments, more mitzvoth(commandments) than any other Torah portion. Some
of the commandments discussed: the law’s and instructions applicable when
taking a second wife, the law of the rebellious son, the obligation to bury the
dead without
undue delay, the requirement to return a found object, the prohibition against causing pain to any living creature, the prohibition against prostitution, the laws of marriage and divorce, the procedure of the Levirate marriage, and the obligation to eradicate the memory of Amalek.
undue delay, the requirement to return a found object, the prohibition against causing pain to any living creature, the prohibition against prostitution, the laws of marriage and divorce, the procedure of the Levirate marriage, and the obligation to eradicate the memory of Amalek.
1Jn 2:3 And by this we know that we know Him, if we
guard His commands.1 Footnote: 1See 3:6.
1Jn 2:4 The one who says, “I know Him,” and does not
guard His commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
1Jn 2:5 But whoever guards His Word, truly the love
of Elohim has been perfected1 in him. By this we know that we are in
Him.2 Footnotes: 1Gen. 17:1, Ps. 119:1, Mt. 5:48. 2See
3:24.
1Jn 5:3 For this is the love for Elohim, that we
guard His commands,1 and His commands are not heavy, Footnote: 1See
5:2, 2 John v. 6, John 14:15.
This does not apply to selected commandments but all the commandments.
Parashat Ki
Teitzei has much to say about love and kindness.
Our Torah Portion:
Deu 21:10
“When you go out(Ki Teitzei) to fight against your enemies, and יהוה your Elohim shall
give them into your hand, and you shall take them captive,
The Torah plainly tells us
that before we can enter the promised land, the enemies of Israel will have to
be destroyed and some taken captive – 20:14 – these captives will include many
women.
Deu 21:11 and shall see among the captives a woman fair
of form,(beautiful in shape) and shall delight (become attached) in her and take her for your wife,
Deu 21:12 then you
shall bring her home to your house, and she
shall shave her head and trim (Heb
asah or prepare)her nails,
Deu 21:13 and(she)
put aside the mantle of her captivity, and shall dwell in your house, and mourn
her father and her mother a month of days. And after that you shall go in to
her, and be her
husband, and she shall be your wife. (Heb - and you shall possess her)
The rabbis taught, "Do not underestimate the value
of parables, because by means of parables a person can master the words of
Torah" (Song of Songs Rabbah 1:8).
"All these things Y'shua
spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to
them, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: 'I
will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the
foundation of the world.' " - Matthew 13:34-35
And so when YHVH gave us this Torah portion He was giving
a most profound parable for all time. A love story between a Bridegroom and Her
Bride. The story (parable) of a
beautiful woman He captures after defeating the forces of heaven and hell – the
story of a gentile woman who He draws to Himself with great tenderness and
compassion and assures her of His covenantal love and affection for her.
“In parashah Ki Tetze we see a beautiful picture of an
Israeli man finding a “goy”(gentile) wife and taking her as a bride bringing
her into the fold of Israel.”
From this passage we can see that through a war this
Israeli man is able to redeem a goy (gentile) from their pagan life and through
this Israeli man this “isha” woman, or wife is able to be absorbed into the
commonwealth of Israel and become a part of the faith and life of Israel. This
process of bringing the “isha” into the “house” of the Israeli man, shaving her
head, and cutting her nails was the sign and process of one's conversion from
an old life of being a Gentile to being part of the commonwealth of Israel.
Being brought into the “house” of an Israeli family was intimate language
describing full inclusion and integration into the practices and faith of that
“house”.
The conclusion of this conversion process; the shaving of
one’s hair, the cutting off one’s nails is culminated with the shedding the old
garments. These are the garments of bondage in which this goyish isha (gentile
woman) was found wearing at the time as she was redeemed during this war
between Israel and the pagan elohim (mighty ones). In Devarim (Deut.)
21:13 “…and she shall put the
clothing of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in your house…”
The old garments symbolize one’s old life, faith, and
practice. These garments where to be replaced with garments as found in this
Set apart Israeli “house” that she was now residing.
Did not our Messiah say
“salvation comes from the Jews”? (Yoh/John 4:22)
The “captor” would then observe her for 30 days to
determine whether she truly desired to be his and his alone and was willing to
change her ways and become an Israelite.
The thirty days reminds us of the 30 days of the month of
“Elul” where we too will prepare ourselves for our Bridegroom and our Messiah
will observe us to determine whether we truly desire to be his and his alone.
Deu 21:14 “And it
shall be, if you are not pleased with her, then you shall let her go at her
desire, but you do not sell her at all for silver. Do not treat her harshly,
since you have humbled her.
The Unloved Wife – Read the story of Elkanah and his two
wives in the book of 1 Samuel chps 1-2
Deu 21:15 “When(“ki”) a man has two wives, one
loved and the other unloved, and they have borne him children, both the loved
and the unloved, and the first-born son is of her who is unloved,
Deu 21:16 then it
shall be, on the day he makes his sons to inherit his possessions, he is not
allowed to treat the son of the beloved wife as first-born in the face of the
son of the unloved, who is truly the first-born.
Deu 21:17 “But he
is to acknowledge the son of the unloved wife as the first-born by giving him a
double portion of all that he has, for he is the beginning of his strength –
the right of the first-born is his.
Exo 21:10 “If he takes another wife,
her food, her covering, and her marriage rights are not to be diminished.
The issue of Polygyny (a man having more than one wife) is such an emotive
and controversial issue, yet the Torah clearly mentions its existence and the
laws governing such marital relationships.
Many great men of Elohim were polygynists. Our father Yakov had two wives
and two concubines. YHVH never said it was a sin, in fact the 12 gates of the
New Yerushalayim are named after the 12 sons of Yakov – Rev21:12
Western Christian civilization and
the church has attempted to force monogamy (one man one wife) and demonized
polygyny (one man having more than one wife) on all of society and has greatly
succeeded in doing so. Most Christians oppose polygyny as YHVH’s loving way of
restoring wholeness to a people, providing it takes place within the structures
of the Torah. Many believers believe that monogamy is the only biblical option
for marriage and that polygyny was and always will be sinful. This is not
consistent with scripture.
Perhaps the true state of any society can be measured by how woman and other
vulnerable people are treated – this includes widows and orphans and those who
are part of both monogamous and polygynous marriages.
This Torah portion (49) commands polygyny in certain
circumstances – Levirate marriage – Deut/Dev 25:5-10
Deu 25:5 “When brothers dwell
together, and one of them has died, and has no son, the widow of the dead man
shall not become a stranger’s outside. Her husband’s brother does go in to her,
and shall take her as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to
her. Deu 25:6 “And it shall be that the
first-born son which she bears does rise up for the name of his dead brother,
so that his name is not blotted out of Yisra’ĕl.
Deu 25:7 “But if the man does not
desire to take his brother’s wife, then let his brother’s wife go up to the
gate to the elders, and say, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to raise up a name
to his brother in Yisra’ĕl, he does not agree to perform the duty of my
husband’s brother.’
Deu 25:8 “The elders of his city
shall then call him and speak to him, and he shall stand and say, ‘I have no
desire to take her,’
Deu 25:9 then his brother’s wife
shall come to him in the presence of the elders, and remove his sandal from his
foot, and shall spit in his face, and answer and say, ‘Thus it is done to the
man who does not build up his brother’s house.’
Deu 25:10 “And in Yisra’ĕl his
name shall be called, ‘The house of him who had his sandal removed.’
If you are not a Hebrew Torah observant man or woman, or desire
to be, then you don’t have to bother about this or
any other commandment.The sad reality is that even this
commandment has very seldom been obeyed in the history of YHVH’s people.
Jas 2:10 For whoever shall guard all the Torah, and
yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.
Deu 28:15 “And it shall be, if you do not obey the
voice of יהוה your Elohim,
to guard to do all His commands and
His laws which I command you today, that all
these curses shall come upon you and overtake you:
We cannot pick and choose what commandments we wish to
obey. We either obey them all or not at all.
Mat 15:3 But
He(Yahshua) answering, said to them, “Why do you also transgress the command of
Elohim1 because of your tradition? Footnote: 1See Mat.
5:20.
Jas 1:27 Clean and undefiled religion(Gk -those who ritually clean and undefiled) before the
Elohim and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and
to keep oneself unstained from the world.
Gk word “visit” can
also mean to “relieve” this is more than visiting
(“Visit” here is the proactive Greek word episkeptomai:
to go to see, look out for, relieve). The word “religion” is added
and does not appear in the original text.
The Torah teaches that
defiled people were not allowed to bring offerings or worship to the temple.
Deu 27:19 ‘Cursed is he who twists the right-ruling of
the stranger, the fatherless, and widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amĕn!’
Mal 3:5 “And I shall draw near to you for
right-ruling. And I shall be a swift witness against the practisers of
witchcraft, and against adulterers, and against them that swear to falsehood,
and against those who oppress the wage earner in his wages and widows and the
fatherless, and those who turn away a sojourner and do not fear Me,” said יהוה of hosts.
Note those who oppress widows and orphans are categorized
with those who practice witchcraft and adultery.
Deu 24:19 “When you reap your harvest in your field,
and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, do not go back to get it. Let it be
for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow, so that יהוה your Elohim might bless you in all the
work of your hands. (The story of Ruth)
Exo 22:22 “Do not afflict any widow or fatherless
child.
Exo 22:23 “If you do afflict them at all – if they cry
out to Me at all, I shall certainly hear their cry,
Exo 22:24 and My wrath shall burn and I shall slay you
with the sword, your wives shall be widows and your children fatherless.
“A father's responsibilities
to his son are outlined in the Talmud, Kiddushin 29a. According to the text, a
father is obligated to circumcise his son, to redeem him if he is the
firstborn, to teach him Torah, to find him a wife, and to teach him a trade.
Talmudic scholars added that a father must also teach his son to swim.”
Mat 25:34 “Then the Sovereign shall say to those on His
right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the reign prepared for you
from the foundation of the world –
Mat 25:35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was
thirsty and you gave Me drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in,
Mat 25:36 was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and
you visited Me, I was in prison and you came to Me.’
Mat 25:37 “Then
the righteous shall answer Him, saying, ‘Master, when did we see You hungry
and we fed You, or thirsty and gave You to drink?
Mat 25:38 ‘And when did we see You a stranger and took You
in, or naked and clothed You?
Mat 25:39 ‘And when did we see You sick, or in prison,
and we came to You?’
Mat 25:40 “And the Sovereign shall answer and say to
them, ‘Truly, I say to you, in so far as you did it to one of the least of
these My brothers, you did it to Me.’
Mat 25:41 “He shall then also say to those on the left
hand, ‘Go away from Me, accursed ones, into the everlasting fire prepared for
the devil and his messengers –
Mat 25:42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food, I
was thirsty and you gave Me no drink,
Mat 25:43 ‘I was a stranger and you did not take Me in,
was naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit
Me.’
Mat 25:44 “Then they also shall answer Him, saying,
‘Master, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick
or in prison, and did not serve You?’
Mat 25:45 “Then He shall answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I
say to you, in so far as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you
did not do it to Me.’
Mat 25:46 “And these shall go away into everlasting
punishment, but the righteous into everlasting life.”
Rebellious son:
Deu 21:18 “When a
man has a wayward and rebellious son who is not listening to the voice of his
father or the voice of his mother, and who, when they have disciplined him, does not listen to them,
Deu 21:19 then his
father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of
his city, to the gate of his city,
Deu 21:20 and
shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is wayward and
rebellious. He is not listening to our voice, he is a glutton and a drunkard.’
Deu 21:21 “Then
all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones. Thus you shall
purge the evil from your midst. And let all Yisra’ĕl hear, and fear.
Respect for the cursed man executed on a tree:
Deu 21:22 “And
when a man has committed a sin worthy of death, then he shall be put to death
and you shall hang him on a tree.
Deu 21:23 “Let his
body not remain overnight on the tree, for you shall certainly bury him the
same day – for he who is hanged is
accursed of Elohim – so that you do not defile the land which יהוה your Elohim is
giving you as an inheritance.
Gal 3:13 Messiah redeemed us from the curse of the
Torah, having become a curse for us – for it has been written, “Cursed is
everyone who hangs upon a tree.”1 – Footnote: 1Dt. 21:23.
Gal 3:14 in order that the blessing of Aḇraham might come upon
the nations in Messiah יהושע, to receive the promise of the Spirit through belief(the
faith).
Showing kindness – The heart of the Torah:
Deu 22:1 “When you see your brother’s ox or his sheep
going straying away, you shall not hide yourself from them. Return them to your
brother without fail.
Deu 22:2 “And if your brother is not near you, or if
you do not know him, then you shall bring it to your own house, and it shall be
with you until your brother seeks it, then you shall return it to him.
Deu 22:3 “And so you do with his donkey, and so you do
with his garment, and so you do with whatever your brother loses, which he has
lost and you have found. You are not allowed to hide yourself.
Deu 22:4 “When you see your brother’s donkey or his ox
fall down on the way, you shall not hide yourself from them. Help him raise
them without fail.
Deu 22:5 “A woman does not wear that which pertains to
a man, nor does a man put on a woman’s garment, for whoever does this is an abomination
to יהוה your Elohim.
Deu 22:6 “When you
come upon a bird’s nest along the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young
ones or eggs, with the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, do not take
the mother with the young –
Deu 22:7 let the
mother go without fail, and take the young for yourself, so that it might be
well with you, and that you shall prolong your days.
Baruch
atah YHVH, Eloheynu, Melech ha-‘Olam, asher natan lanu Toraht-emet, v’chay-yeh
o’lam nata-b’tochenu. Baruch atah YHVH, noteyn ha-Torah. Ameyn.”
(Blessed are you
Yahweh, our Elohim, King of the Universe, you have given us your Torah of
truth, and have planted everlasting life within our midst. Blessed are you,
YHVH giver of the Torah – Ameyn